It’s that time of year. Holiday weight-gain, bloat, chronic reflux slowing you down? Are you craving sweets like crazy? Time for a health re-boot!

Stick out your tongue. What does it look like? Is it pink and healthy? Or scalloped on the edges? Fuzzy and wearing a white fur coat?

How’s that brain doing? Foggy headed? Feeling more volatile or dopey than usual?

(Before I go any further–I’m not a medical professional. I’m a mom who has been working on her family’s health for a long time and I’ve done a lot of research and reading. This plan is something I’m using with my own family. Please use this information as a starting point in your own research.)

Since health and mental wellness start in the gut, I’m kicking off 2015 with a little Gut Rehab for me and mine. My boys seem “yeasty,” which is a vague descriptor, but biomed moms are familiar with it and it’s become short-hand between my husband and me for when the boys are overly emotional, prone to over stimulation, with bloated bellies and smelly farts. (Although the boys love being stink bombs!)

Which Cleanse to Choose?

There are several on the market. I’ve used Dr Schulze Intestinal Formula #1, CandiGONE by RENEW Life,
and Yeast-Cleanse by Solaray. A friend also enthusiastically recommends a program from CandidaMD. I’ve also put together a home-brew kind of detox from my own supplement stash. What I look for:

Something to repopulate healthy flora: Probiotics, kombucha, water kefir, raw sauerkraut. I usually do this step after a few days of antimicrobials and die-off. Sometimes just adding a good probiotic can cause die-off, so be ready for die-off symptoms.

Watch what you eat!

If you’re going to go to the trouble of doing a cleanse, make it stick by eating a healthy, no-sugar diet. Lots of green veggies, good oils, organic meats. I’ve tried The Body Ecology Diet, The Specific Carbohydrate Diet, and Atkins with good results and I know families who swear by the GAPS Diet. Switching to a Paleo style diet would also limit the sugar and starchy carbs that candida feeds on.

Whichever way you choose, remember to go slow, keep your bowels moving, use those die-off helpers a couple of hours after the antifungals, and drink plenty of water. You may feel a little groggy or achy the first couple of days, but keep in mind that those little yeasty beasties are going to put up a fight as they go.